“Queen of the Court,” “G.O.A.T.” or “Serena the Superhero”; whatever you might fondly call tennis phenom Serena Williams, she is sports royalty. And while we were dismayed to hear that the French Tennis Federation had singled out Williams’ Nike-designed compression catsuit when explaining its ban on less traditional outfits at future French Opens, we weren’t too concerned, since royalty (let alone a known fashion lover like Williams) is rarely known for wearing anything twice.
Williams confirmed as much when she addressed the U.S. Open press corp on Saturday. Despite the potentially life-saving function of the now hotly debated suit—which provided much-needed compression after her near-death postnatal experience with blood clots—Williams had no intention of wearing the outfit again, anyway.
“Everything’s fine, guys,” she said. “I’ve since found other methods. And when it comes to fashion, you don’t want to be a repeat offender, so it would be a while before this even has to come up again.”
Williams’ wardrobe sponsor Nike was a bit more blunt in their response, tweeting on Friday, “You can take the superhero out of her costume, but you can never take away her superpowers. #justdoit.”
You also can’t take away the Queen of the Court’s fashion sense, as evidenced by one of the latest offerings from her eponymous line of clothing. In honor of close friend Meghan Markle—now England’s Duchess of Sussex—Williams designed the “Royal Duchess Cropped Hoodie,” which retails for $90 on her website. “Designed by, and fit for, a queen,” reads the product description. And of course, she made sure to send one to her equally famous friend.
And prior to sporting her latest collaboration with Nike and Virgil Abloh at the 2018 U.S. Open, Williams has been spotted wearing the hoodie at recent appearances—including while hanging with another self-anointed queen, Nicki Minaj, posting a boomerang of the two with the caption: “Queen + Queen = Royal.”
I guess royalty recognizes royalty.